CIA director Bill Burns (L) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R). Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS; Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Antiwar.com: CIA Director Tells Saudis the US Was Blindsided By Iran Normalization
Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to reopen their embassies on Thursday after their foreign ministers met in China
CIA Director William Burns visited Saudi Arabia earlier this week to express frustration over Riyadh’s surprise normalization deal with Tehran that was brokered by Beijing, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
According to the Journal, Burns told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the US “has felt blindsided” by Riyadh’s rapprochement with Iran as well as Syria, two nations under crippling US economic sanctions.
Following the deal with Iran, Saudi Arabia is poised to normalize with Syria. Riyadh is expected to invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to an Arab League summit it’s hosting in May. The Biden administration is against regional countries upgrading ties with Syria as it prefers to keep the country isolated as US policy is to prevent reconstruction.
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WNU Editor: You would think that America's intelligence agencies with their massive budgets and tens of thousands of personnel would have noticed that Beijing was brokering a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but apparently they did not.
But what is telling about CIA Director William Burns visit to Saudi Arabia to tell the Crown Prince that the administration is displeased with the Iran - Saudi peace agreement and soon to be rapprochement with Syrian President Assad, is that he was the one who was sent to give the message.
It was not President Biden or Vice President Harris in a phone call. It was not US Secretary of State Blinken or Secretary of Defense Austin. It was certainly not National Security Adviser Sullivan. They sent the CIA Director William Burns to meet the de-facto ruler of one of America's critical allies. I think the reason why he was chosen to give this message is that he is probably the only one that the Saudis still respect and are on speaking terms.
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